Pirates center-fielder Andrew McCutchen recently penned an article in response to the Little League cheating scandal that has cost Jackie Robinson West their 2014 U.S. title. The article is great and highly recommend reading it (you can find it here). Andrew McCutchen is one of my favorite players (you can find his swing in nearly article and video I do) and it was awesome to get some insight into his path to success. I would like to share some of my thoughts on some interesting points I took from the piece.1. McCutchen was a multi-sport athlete. I hope people aren’t getting tired of me on my soapbox talking about the need to play multiple sports. But as McCutchen demonstrates, kids need to do more than just play baseball to become baseball players. McCutchen played football and ran track, even planning to play college football before injuring his knee. McCutchen even missed an entire high school baseball season rehabbing the injury, and still was drafted in the first round. I have had parents tell me they haven’t let their 12 year-old child play anything but baseball in hopes of becoming a college/pro baseball player. Well, if you want your kid to be a college/pro baseball player, then you want him to be a college/pro athlete. And a great way to develop athleticism to play multiple sports, just like Andrew McCutchen.2. McCutchen didn’t play travel ball until age 13. In this era of select teams, travel teams, super-elite-select-travel teams, it is nice to hear a testimony that route isn’t necessary, especially at an early age. Worried about what 8U travel ball team your kid is going to play with? You shouldn’t.

Andrew McCutchen in his Little League (gasp!) uniform.3. Baseball is becoming a more upper-class sport. I don’t want to dwell on this too much because it is a complicated issue, but the days of sandlot baseball are over. Your economic status can afford you enhanced (hopefully) instruction, training, exposure, and nutrition. (If you are interested in this topic further, read Faster, Higher, Stronger: How Sport Science is Creating the Next Generation of Superathletes to see what is available these days. My goodness.) Little League numbers are way down in favor of more expensive (and beloved) travel ball. Weekend showcases can run in the four digits. Better get the new motion tracking sensor or you will fall behind. On and on. Still, McCutchen is an example that all that isn’t necessary and talent will carry you no matter what. It’s just that developing that talent is a little more dependent on economic status than say fifteen years ago. 4. McCutchen was relentless in his pursuit of excellence. McCutchen mentions several times the sacrifices he made in order to achieve success. A new video game to play with friends or a new bat? New bat. How about leaving his friends behind each time he joined a more advanced team without hesitation. How many people would view that as selfish? Quite a few. But if you want to achieve success, you have to make sacrifices. And sometimes those sacrifices can look selfish.5. McCutchen was relentless in his pursuit of excellence. Yes, this the same point as number four. But the flip side of this statement is worth mentioning. Very few individuals have the internal drive to become the best at sports. And that’s fine. Kids play sports for a host of reasons – hang out with friends, exercise, parents made them, siblings played before them, and on and on. Parents and coaches need to except that everyone is not the next Andrew McCutchen and understand when players aren’t “prioritizing” sports enough. If you have to think to determine if your player has the internal drive required, they don’t. Youth baseball has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, and you can bet it will continue to change. My kids are eighteen months old and I honestly wonder if there will even be Little League baseball by the time they reach playing age. I hope so. My wish is that they follow a similar path as McCutchen. Ha, I just hope they like the game.

I agree with your points. Playing multiple sports really can do help you to achieve a higher percentage of success in your last picked sport, because playing multiple sports may give you multiple advantages, like for example is, by playing football, in return you will gain greater stamina and speed that can be used in baseball. Success really just doesn't come easy, that is why many sacrifices are required. If you want to achieve something or to be great at something, then you should embrace it and give it your best, because the sacrifices are not enough if you really want to be great, you would also need determination and for you to have an eagerness to claim that you are great.

Undoubtedly, youth baseball has changed dramatically by the last decades and also changes implemented in this game is quite positive for the youth and upcoming players as well. I also would love to appreciate the work of McCutchen and found a star of future in him.

Andrew McCutchen is a childhood hero of many children in Pittsburgh. He is one heck of a player that you'll dream to be. You'll love him once he's on your side but you'll hate him once he's on the opposing side. Truly a great athlete and a competitor. He will not become who he is if it wasn't for his drive to succeed and that is what edges him from other athletes.